Where's Waldo?

on the shiny green couch.

She's in a Tight Spot!

Frankie will sleep almost anywhere.  So long as it's not her big comfy bed.

First Day of School (#448)

Doesn't it seem like we've had a million first days of school this year?  Oh well.  Every one's a party!  The Korean school year starts in March, so Jensie moved up to third grade this morning and Asher started first grade. We attended the school's "entrance ceremony" and met their teachers.  Met is an exaggeration.  They smiled at us, we smiled at them, and then we all stared at each other for a little while. Asher needs to hurry up and learn to speak Hangul already. Anyway, enough chit-chat.  Pictures!

 A Korean soldier came along to help us interpret.  Every time we asked him what the teacher was saying, he'd smile and say "I have no idea." 

 Munchkins!  First graders in Korean party hats.

 Jensie and the Katusa just having a little chat...in Korean.

 Look who doesn't hate school anymore.

 Ash-yo

 Get to class, Jensie.

 Welcome to school packet. I can't read it but I'm sure it's full of useful information.

Asher's new classroom.  School starts bright and early Monday morning. 

 Let's talk about how awesome Korean food is, again.  Today's menu included rice, beef bulgogi, cabbage kimchi, zucchini kimchi, bone broth, and a pile of funky looking mushrooms.  Jensie gobbled it up.  Well done, girl.

Biglers at Bogwang

Hotdog! I'm 30

Cool haircut Nate gave me (it's the most recent photo I have).

30, hurray! 30 means I have been Nate Bigler's girl for over a decade.  A decade!  That is huge. I won!

Em says I am now a legit adult. And just in time too! I'm finally starting to think like a grown up.  Weirdly, I crammed all my life lessons into year 29. It was exhausting. But look what I figured out:

1. I love to dance.  In my kitchen. In public.  Don't matter, I'm doin' it. Someone told me in high school that I didn't look very "natural" when I danced and, humiliated, I gave it up "for-ev-er."  Nate took me dancing on our first date.  Whatevs, I didn't even know him.  But by about date 10 I swore I'd never dance with him again. He was sad. But I was too crazy about him to risk losing him by looking a fool and was only protecting my little 19-year-old naive heart. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Last year in a schlump I thought Aw, what the heck and started throwing dance parties for myself after the kids had gone to bed.  Praise the Lord!  It makes me so so happy.

2. If someone says they're sorry, you should forgive them.  Even if it's hard.  To not accept an apology is a terrible wasteful thing.

3. I am a pretty good runner.  I love to sprint almost as much as I love to dance.  I'm a pretty pokey jogger but, man, it is exhilarating when I let my legs go.  I'm so glad they're long and mine.

4. How to slaughter animals humanely (no, I do NOT believe that is an oxy-moron) and how to love animals. I used to hate them so much!  I can't for the life of me remember why.  We aren't allowed to have any pets here in Korea.  I still miss my dog every single day.

5. Sarcasm is overrated--it's not funny, it's just mean.  It's cool to be kind.  Also, "I told you so" sucks.  I'm done with "I told you so."

6,7,8, 9, 10 - infinity. Even good things can be hard, like, scary hard. You can raise happy kids without spankings and time-outs. Teenagers are silly, Neutrogena moisturizer is the WORST, and when you open the closet and see your 15 shirts and think I don't have anything to wear! it is not true.  You have 15 shirts.

30.  Woot woot!

Menu

Is planning a menu really tedious, or is it just me?  I spent a million hours reading cookbooks and perusing food blogs this afternoon.  Save yourself the trouble and just have what we're having:

Monday
Breakfast- Broccoli frittata
Lunch- Tuna "sandwiches" (nut crackers to sub) with tomato soup
Dinner- Warm sweet potato and black bean salad (scroll way down)
Snack- Sea salt honey butter popcorn

Tuesday
Breakfast- Almond muffins
Lunch- Mushroom pepperoni pizza bites
Dinner- Jalapeno fried chicken, broccoli
Snack- Coconut lemon meltaways

Wednesday
Breakfast- Turkey egg cups
Lunch- Fajitas on GF corn tortillas
Dinner- Pork bulgogi, kimchi, fried egg
Snack- Hummus, cucumbers and carrot sticks

Thursday
Breakfast- Huevos Rancheros
Lunch- Avocado potato salad
Dinner- Salmon with pesto and mozzarella, sweet potato fries
Snack- Baked grapefruit

Friday
Breakfast- Green "monster" smoothies
Lunch- Cheese burgers, pickles
Dinner- Onion soup, mixed greens
Snack- Smoked herring

Saturday
Breakfast- Sauteed apples and onions
Lunch- PB & J (please oh please)
Dinner- Citrus seared tofu with carmelized brussels sprouts
Snack- Almonds and cheddar cheese

Sunday
LEFTOVERS

Words (We Are Trying) to Live By

St. Valentine's Day

a little bit of this

 a little bit of that

and a whole lotta rockin' out to Dad's new love-pod.

Fashionista

She's cute.  She got those Minnie Mouse ears at a birthday party.  

Speaking of birthday parties, we went to one at Burger King the other day.  We let the kids each order some sliced apples and a carton of 1% milk. A and J scrunched up their faces and said "This milk tastes cheap." They're cute too.  And spoiled.

I'm off to take a stats test.  Wish me luck!

Go Team

Spent last Saturday cheerin' on our girls!  First up, Jensie's early-mornin' swim meet-

 Left her team cap and goggles in the taxi, but I'm a big fan of swimmers in Pippi braids.

 Action shot!  One of Jensie's biggest accomplishments this season has been to figure out rotary breathing.  Tricky stuff!

Army Warming Tents: quite possibly the coolest part of a winter swim (she made that face).

Next up came Nat's last basketball game of the season.  I wish I could think of some clever word play here, cheering for the cheerleader, but alas...

We weren't the only ones

 I don't know what this is called, but "high kick" sounds good, right? She does it well.

 Flying!

All of the school's senior athletes were recognized during half time, so I got to escort Nat across the gym.  I see three things here: 1.) I am a giant. 2.) I look like my mom.  Like, a lot. 3.) I need to grow my hair back out.  (Ch-ch-ch-chia!)

Let's take a minute to recognize this senior:

Nat is a compassionate friend and very sweet aunt.

Her free babysitting can't be beat.

4.0 GPA, yeah baby!

Made All-American cheer 

Voted "Best Dressed" (haha, Senior Superlatives). Obviously.

Has the best legs on the planet

Oh yeah, did I mention she drives a motorcycle?

Is moving back to the states to go to college this Fall. WAH WAH WAH!

 Frankie dressed herself.

Go Team!

Faux Snow

This year's first snow, was more like the idea of snow. But everyone knows "mud angels" are just as much fun. 

We've had some real powder since then, but I don't think I took any pictures. Well that's it for today I'm off to school.

PS. I'm back in school!  Taking psychology and statistics this semester.  Woot woot!

War Eagles

Eagle Tattoo by Aunt Nat

My brother reads my blog. Who knew?  He's deploying to Afghanistan next month and asked me to post more regularly. Boohoo! Nothing pulls at my heartstrings like a lonely soldier. So here we are, just for you, Trace. We love you!

Overheard: Early Bird Gets the Pecs

Jensie got a new alarm clock and asked Nate to help her set it for 3 am.  This morning at breakfast...

Nate: Did your alarm go off?
Jensie: Yeah
Nate: What'd you do, did you get up and read?
Jensie: Nah, I just did a few push-ups and went back to sleep.

Pictures for Penny

F&A were whining about having to sit still, or go to primary, or something churchy.  I don't remember what.  Anyway, I made a bargain with this narcissistic duo. iPhotos in exchange for compliance. They bit, with one caveat. These pictures are just for Baby Penny.

Eloise

I've given up on taking anything but grainy cell phone pics.

Frankie: I wish I looked like Eloise.
Me: Well you do!
Frankie: No, her hair's only blond.  My hair is golden.